Assignment Haiti: Port-Au-Prince supply run - Part 2

PORT-AU-PRINCE: The devastating earthquake has driven thousands of Haitians out of Port-au-Prince back to the small villages where they grew up. Thanks to a dedicated group of Southwest Floridians, those Haitians are getting the help they badly need.

More than two weeks after the earthquake, the dead are still being counted, the frantic effort to treat survivors continues and the exodus from the devastation grows daily.

Greg Van Schoyk, of Cape Coral, has been helping Hatians for more than 15 years, raised his kids there, and runs a school in the Central Plateau located 40 mile from Port-Au-Prince.

Now, he says his calling has changed.

Two weeks after the earthquake, the window of survivability has closed and the exodus has begun from Port-au Prince - where Haitians go for university - to find jobs back to the villages where they grew up hopefully to find food, water and shelter.

"We're not Haiti-wide, but we're trying to offer some relief in our little corner of Haiti here. Right now, we're helping 263 families. But those numbers are increasing each day as more and more trucks come in with more and more people. But thanks to the load of things like you've just brought in, I think we're gong to be able to do it," said Van Schoyk.

Making the trip possible is Cape Christian Fellowship, a church in Cape Coral.

NBC2's Craig Wolf went along with them last Friday and then on another trip Saturday. And as is the case with major efforts to bring in aid, it's a challenge to get to the small towns and villages as well.

Van Schoyk knew what was needed and he was able to get out an email to Cape Christian. The church then gathered the donations.

The Bonita Springs-based Abbey Carpet Corporation donated the use of the plane and the pilot. And with the help of a group in Atlanta, the trip has been repeated five times.

While supply runs offer some much needed help the desperation, sadness and frustration is etched all over these faces. Because for now at least, there just isn't enough help to go around.

It could be 10 years before Haiti even recovers to the 80-percent poverty level that existed before the earthquake.

But the efforts of men like Van Schoyck, organizations like Cape Christian and the generous spirit that still exists in a troubled world helps to keep alive the dream of hope for Haiti.

2018-03-17T20:57:05Z2018-03-17T20:57:04ZJailhouse video reveals California sheriff’s deputies watching and sometimes laughing as a schizophrenic man who had been strapped naked to a chair for 46 hours writhes on the floor of his cell, loses consciousness and eventually dies.